Gov. Rick Scott on $500M school safety plan: 'We have to get this done'

The governor called for "common-sense solutions" in response to the Valentine's Day shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Author:
Mark Bergin

Published:
9:35 AM EST February 28, 2018

Updated:
11:50 AM EST February 28, 2018

TAMPA, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his $500 million school safety plan Wednesday morning exactly two weeks after a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister also spoke during the announcement at the sheriff's office.

"Florida is never going to be the same," Scott said. "We have to make sure Florida is never the same."

Scott called for "common-sense solutions" in response to the Valentine's Day school shooting and to ensure student safety.

"That day I called my daughters and said, 'Unfortunately, in your lifetime, you're going to have to teach your children about an active shooter and what they do,'" Scott said. "'You're going to have to teach them, that even though they're safe at their house, they're going to have to think about being safe at their school.'

"Parents shouldn't have to worry about whether they get up in the morning and send their child to a school whether they're going to be safe or not."

The effort includes:

Requiring anyone in the state wanting to purchase a firearm to be 21 years of age or older

"There's nothing more important than to do all we can to make sure an evil act like this never ever happens again in this state," Scott said.

Scott said the state is operating on a surplus when asked if he would have to shift funding to implement his $500 million plan.

"We have to get this done. We have the resources to do it," Scott said. "I walked into a situation with over $3 billion projected revenue over current expenses, and since then, projected revenues have gone up, not gone down.

"With social media, parents you need to tell your kids, 'if you see something on Snapchat, report it.'" Bondi said. "I don't care what happened in this instance, from now on, it will be given the attention that it deserves."

Bondi said Florida students would help name and design the logo for a statewide app where students could anonymously report any instances where a child is threatened.

"Gov. Scott, today we applaud you," Chronister said. "We applaud you for not taking a knee-jerk or an emotional action in light of the Parkland tragedy, but instead developing a common-sense approach to keeping our children, our schools and our community safe."